Disparities in Quality of Primary Care by Resident and Staff Physicians: Is There a Conflict Between Training and Equity?

BACKGROUND: Outpatient primary care experience is vital to internal medicine resident training but may impact quality and equity of care delivered in practices that include resident physicians. Understanding whether quality differences exist among resident and staff primary care physicians (PCPs) may present an opportunity to address health disparities within academic medical centers. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there are differences in the quality of primary care provided by resident PCPs compared to staff PCPs. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study with a propensity-matched analysis. PARTICIPANTS: 143,274 patients, including 10,870 patients managed by resident PCPs, seen in 16 primary care practices affiliated with an academic medical center. MAIN MEASURES: Guideline-concordant chronic disease management of diabetes (HbA1c, LDL) and coronary artery disease (LDL), preventive breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening, and resource utilization measures including emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, high-cost imaging, and patient-reported health experience. KEY RESULTS: At baseline, there were significant differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics between resident and staff physician patients. Resident patients were less likely to achieve chronic disease and preventive cancer screening outcome measures including LDL at goal (adjusted OR [aOR] 0.77 [95% CI 0.65, 0.92]) for patients with coronary artery disease; HbA1c at goal (aOR 0.73 [95% CI 0.62, 0.85]) for patients with diabetes; breast (aOR 0.56 [95% CI 0.49, 0.63]), cervical (aOR 0.66 [95% CI 0.60, 0.74]), and colorectal (aOR 0.72 [95% CI 0.65, 0.79] cancer screening. Additionally, resident patients had higher rates of ED visits and hospitalizations but lower rates of high-cost imaging. Resident patients reported lower rates of satisfaction with certain access to care and communication measures. Similar outcomes were noted in propensity-matched sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: After controlling for differences in sociodemographic and clinical factors, resident patients were less likely to achieve chronic disease and preventive cancer screening outcomes compared to staff patients. Further efforts to address ambulatory trainee education and primary care quality along with novel approaches to the management of the disproportionately disadvantaged resident patient panels are needed.

Cocaine cardiotoxicity: a review of the pathophysiology, pathology, and treatment options.

Cocaine is a powerful stimulant that gives users a temporary sense of euphoria, mental alertness, talkativeness, and a decreased need for food and sleep. Cocaine intoxication is the most frequent cause of drug-related death reported by medical examiners in the US, and these events are most often related to the cardiovascular manifestations of the drug. Once playing a vital role in medicine as a local anesthetic, decades of research have established that cocaine has the ability to cause irreversible structural damage to the heart, greatly accelerate cardiovascular disease, and initiate sudden cardiac death. Although pathologic findings are often reported in the literature, few images are available to support these findings, and reviews of cocaine cardiopathology are rare. We describe the major pathologic findings linked to cocaine abuse in earlier research, their underlying mechanisms, and the treatment approaches currently being used in this patient population. A MEDLINE search was conducted to identify all English language articles from January 2000 to June 2008 with the subject headings and key words 'cocaine', 'heart', 'toxicity', and 'cardiotoxicity'. Epidemiologic, laboratory, and clinical studies on the pathology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology of the effects of cocaine on the heart were reviewed, along with relevant treatment options. Reference lists were used to identify earlier studies on these topics, and related articles from Google Scholar were also included. There is an established connection between cocaine use and myocardial infarction (MI), arrhythmia, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. Numerous mechanisms have been postulated to explain how cocaine contributes to these conditions. Among these, cocaine may lead to MI by causing coronary artery vasoconstriction and accelerated atherosclerosis, and by initiating thrombus formation. Cocaine has also been shown to block K+ channels, increase L-type Ca2+ channel current, and inhibit Na+ influx during depolarization, all possible causes for arrhythmia. Additionally, cocaine use has been associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, myocarditis, and dilated cardiomyopathy, which can lead to heart failure if drug use is continued. Certain diagnostic tools, including ECG and serial cardiac markers, are not as accurate in identifying MI in cocaine users experiencing chest pain. As a result, clinicians should be suspicious of cocaine use in their differential diagnosis of chest pain, especially in the younger male population, and proceed more cautiously when use is suspected. Treatment for cocaine-related cardiovascular disease is in many ways similar to treatment for traditional cardiovascular disease. However use of beta-receptor antagonists and class Ia and III anti-arrhythmics is strongly discouraged if the patient is likely to continue cocaine use, because of documented adverse effects. The medical community is in urgent need of a pharmacologic adjunct to cocaine-dependence treatment that can deter relapse and reduce the risks associated with cardiovascular disease in these patients.

Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic differences in bone loss among men.

As men age, they lose bone and are susceptible to fracture. Despite having lower fracture rates than women, men have worse fractures than women do. Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in fracture rates exist, yet data on rates of bone loss by race/ethnicity and SES among men are limited. We examined annualized percentage change in bone mineral density (%ΔBMD) at the hip (N = 681), spine (N = 663), and forearm (N = 636) during 7 years of follow-up among men aged 30-79 years at baseline. Multivariable models tested whether race/ethnicity, income, or genetic ancestry predicted annualized %ΔBMD after controlling for an extensive set of covariates. Annualized %ΔBMD ranged from -0.65(0.04)% (femoral neck) to +0.26(0.03)% (1/3 distal radius), and changes were consistent across age groups with the exception of the ultradistal radius, where annualized declines increased with age. Neither self-identified race/ethnicity nor genetic ancestry were associated with annualized %ΔBMD. In contrast, income was strongly associated (dose-response) with annualized %ΔBMD at total hip (independent of confounders, self-identified race/ethnicity, and genetic ancestry). Fully adjusted least-square mean change in annualized %ΔBMD at the total hip were -0.24(0.12)% and -0.16(0.06)% steeper among men with low and moderate incomes, respectively, than among men with higher incomes (overall p = 0.0293). Results show a linear decline in bone that begins relatively early in life among men, that rates of bone loss do not vary with race/ethnicity (self-identified or "objectively" measured), and that income plays an important role in relation to bone loss at the hip. These data suggest that fracture risk in men may be driven in part by income-related differences in bone loss, but also, that the known higher fracture risk among white men is not the result of racial/ethnic differences in bone loss, but rather, early life exposures that lead to attainment of higher peak bone mass among minorities.

The impact of changing medical therapy on transplantation-free survival in pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether the introduction of these agents had altered the outcome of dilated cardiomyopathy (DC) in childhood. BACKGROUND: Pediatric DC has a poor prognosis. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and beta-adrenergic receptor blockers (BBs) improve survival in adults with DC, but their effectiveness in children has not been confirmed. METHODS: We performed a single-institution retrospective review of all diagnosed cases of DC and related phenotypic variants between 1976 and 2005, with multivariate analysis of risk factors for the end point of death or cardiac transplantation. RESULTS: A total of 189 patients presented between January 1, 1976, and March 31, 2005. Forty-four patients died, 34 underwent cardiac transplantation, and 10 were lost to follow-up during this period. The 2- and 5-year transplantation-free survival rates for all patients were 63.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 56.4% to 70.8%) and 56.3% (95% CI: 48.5% to 64.1%), respectively. For patients treated with digoxin but neither an ACEI nor a BB (n = 51), the 5-year transplantation free survival rate was 67.5% (95% CI: 53.5% to 82.0%) and for those treated with the addition of an ACEI but no BB (n = 65), the rate was 57.2% (95% CI: 43.6% to 69.4%) (p = NS). Combination therapy with an ACEI and a BB (n = 57) was not associated with an improvement in 5-year transplantation-free survival (58.5%; 95% CI: 42.5% to 72.0%, p = NS). In multivariable analysis, presentation with a low left ventricular ejection fraction increased the risk of death or transplantation, but the end point was not influenced by time era or treatment strategy. CONCLUSIONS: DC in childhood has a high risk of death or the need for transplantation. Medical treatment has shifted toward combination ACEI and BB therapy in the current era. Our retrospective data, however, suggest only a transient survival advantage associated with the combined use of ACEI and BB over ACEI alone and no obvious or sustained improvement in transplantation-free survival accompanying the change from digoxin-based medical therapy.

Prenatal intrapericardial teratomas: diagnosis and management.

We present a 21-week gestation fetus, who upon routine investigation was noted to have a left-sided pleural effusion. The pregnancy was terminated, and at autopsy, a diagnosis of intrapericardial teratoma was confirmed. Primary cardiac tumors in infants and children are rare, and intrapericardial teratomas are even more so. In this brief case report, we review intrapericardial teratomas and present pertinent diagnostic and management options.